Chapter 25: Green Pepper Critical Hit!
The video continued playing.
Brock stood up.
"All right. Your Pokémon need plenty of rest after those battles, so stay at my house tonight. You can let your parents know you arrived safely and continue your journey tomorrow."
"Okay!"
Raina hugged Eevee, unable to conceal the happiness on her face.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Ash]: Waaaaah! Brock is such a nice person.
[Professor Oak]: This is how knowledge and experience are passed down between Trainers... The older generation guides the younger, and once those young Trainers have grown, they guide the generation that follows them.
[Lance]: Professor Oak is right. That is one of the most precious traditions in the Pokémon world.
[Cynthia]: The Pewter Gym battle is over, and Raina has obtained her first Badge.
[Diantha]: Where will she go next?
[Iris]: Maybe Cerulean City? No, wait—Cerulean City is her home... Then will she go to Vermilion City?
[Dawn]: Not necessarily. Kanto has many Gyms, so she can choose her own route.
[Max]: May, do you think she’ll come to Hoenn?
[May]: How would I know something like that?
The scene changed.
Inside Brock’s living room, Raina hurried toward the videophone with a cookie held between her teeth.
"I almost forgot... Mom told me to contact her as soon as I reached Pewter City."
The call was answered less than two seconds after she placed it.
Misty’s face appeared on the screen, with Raina’s familiar home visible in the background.
"Raina! Did you reach Pewter City? Did you encounter any danger along the way? Have you eaten yet?"
Raina counted the answers on her fingers.
"Mom, I’ve reached Pewter City. I didn’t encounter any danger, and I’m about to eat. Uncle Brock is making curry."
Misty visibly relaxed before immediately switching into a scrutinizing mode.
"Your Uncle Brock’s curry is decent, but don’t eat anything too spicy."
"Misty, I can hear you."
Brock leaned halfway out of the kitchen.
"I said it so you would hear me."
Brock walked over carrying two cups of hot cocoa and placed one in front of Raina.
"Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to Raina while she’s with me."
"Mm. Thank you for looking after her."
After briefly exchanging pleasantries with Brock, Misty turned her attention back to Raina.
"Mom, look! I defeated the Pewter Gym and won the Boulder Badge!"
Raina held the Badge close to the videophone’s camera, her face filled with anticipation as she waited for her parents’ approval.
A gentle smile appeared on Misty’s face.
"Mm-hmm. You won beautifully. That’s my daughter."
"Mom, where’s Dad?"
The camera moved across the living room.
Asher was reclining on the sofa with a wineglass in one hand and an open book resting across his knees.
He raised his glass toward the camera and smiled.
"You battled well."
Raina blinked.
"Dad, can you guess who I defeated?"
"Brock’s younger brother."
"Oh? Why are you so certain?"
"Just a guess."
Asher took a sip from his glass.
"Brock wouldn’t seriously battle a little girl."
The corner of Brock’s mouth twitched.
"...I was the one who battled her. Besides, Gyarados and Blastoise are hardly at the level of an ordinary little girl."
"Is that so?"
A barely perceptible trace of amusement entered Asher’s voice.
"Then you must have had a difficult time."
Brock pressed a hand against his forehead.
"Talking to you is still as exhausting as ever."
The scene changed to the following day.
Raina stood outside the house with her backpack packed until it bulged. Before she left, Brock had stuffed another large package of homemade travel rations inside.
"Eat these on the road," Brock told her. "Your mother specifically warned me last night that you’re a picky eater."
Raina’s face reddened slightly.
"I’m not picky..."
"Really? Your mother said that when you were younger, you hid your bell peppers inside Wartortle’s shell so you wouldn’t have to eat them."
Raina’s face grew even redder.
"That never happened! Bell peppers are my favorite food!"
Brock could not help laughing.
"All right, all right. I’ll stop teasing you. Be careful on the road."
"Mm-hmm!"
Raina nodded firmly.
"Thank you, Uncle Brock! The next time I come here, I’ll be even stronger!"
"I look forward to it."
Brock leaned against the doorframe and smiled with his eyes narrowed.
"But remember to tell me in advance the next time you visit. That way, I can prepare plenty of your favorite bell peppers."
Raina’s smile froze.
"..."
Brock burst out laughing.
"I’m joking. Go on."
Raina turned away with puffed-up cheeks and marched forward.
After taking two steps, she stopped, turned around, and waved to Brock.
"Goodbye, Uncle Brock!"
She then turned and ran in another direction, with Eevee happily bounding beside her feet.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"Hahahahaha! Brock’s final bell-pepper attack killed me!"
"She won a Gym battle, yet she still couldn’t escape being tormented by bell peppers. Is this how adults show their love?"
"Brock really treats Raina like his own niece. He packed food for her and even teased her before she left."
"So although the parallel-world Brock doesn’t have a beautiful older woman, he does have a group of younger people he can take care of."
"Person above... That knife struck with terrifying accuracy."
"Stop stabbing him! Now I’m going to laugh every time I see Brock advertising for a bride."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Brock]: What’s wrong with bell peppers? They’re good for you.
[Ash]: Brock, the bell peppers aren’t the point.
[Brock]: Then what is?
[Gary]: The point is that you threatened a little girl who dislikes bell peppers with more bell peppers.
[Brock]: It wasn’t a threat. Being a picky eater is unhealthy.
[Gary]: Raina isn’t necessarily picky. She simply dislikes one particular food. Everyone has something they don’t enjoy eating.
[Brock]: That’s true.
The scene changed.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves along a forest path, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow across the ground.
Raina walked through the forest while studying the map in her hands.
Eevee was not walking beside her. Instead, it lay across the top of her head like a fluffy hat.
"Eevee, walking like this is tiring."
"Eevee."
Eevee patted Raina’s bangs with one paw as though thanking her for her hard work.
Raina sighed but did not take it down.
"My next destination is Vermilion City."
She began counting on her fingers.
"The Vermilion Gym specializes in Electric-type Pokémon... Which of my Pokémon should I use first?"
"Eevee, Eevee."
"Mm, you’re right. Electric types are a bad matchup for us, so I’ll have to think carefully about my strategy."
"Eevee."
"You think I should send Blastoise out first? But Blastoise is a Water type. Electric-type attacks will hurt it even more."
"Eevee, Eevee, Eevee."
"Eevee, that strategy is far too cruel! Blastoise would be heartbroken!"
"Eevee, Eevee~"
"Even if it would forgive me afterward, I still don’t want to do that."
"Eevee, Eevee, Eevee."
"You’re saying it fought so hard during the Gym battle that I should let it rest? That part is true..."
"Eevee!"
The girl and her Eevee continued chatting as their voices echoed along the forest path.
After a while, Eevee leaped from the top of Raina’s head and landed on her shoulder. It gently brushed its tail against her cheek.
Raina turned her head and rubbed her cheek against Eevee’s.
Then they continued walking toward the next city.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"She’s actually having a conversation with Eevee?!"
"I can’t understand what Eevee is saying, but somehow, I feel as though Raina understood every word."
"So this is what a future Water-Type Master was like as a child... When I was ten, I was fighting the neighbor’s Rattata over Berries."
"If the Rattata stole your Berries, it means it liked you."
"No. It purely wanted to steal my Berries."
"Hahahahaha!"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Dawn]: Raina’s interactions with Eevee are just like mine with Piplup! I can’t understand Piplup’s exact words either, but I can usually tell what it means!
[Ash]: Pikachu and I are the same!
[Wallace]: Communication between a Trainer and their Pokémon has never been limited to spoken language. Even when Raina was very young, many Pokémon approached her of their own accord. That is an exceptionally rare gift.
[Cynthia]: Indeed. This level of communication is exceedingly uncommon in a ten-year-old Trainer. Many Trainers still haven’t learned it by the time they turn twenty.
[Lance]: I now believe that her ability to catch Lugia and Suicune was certainly not due to luck alone.
[Bruno]: You only believe that now? I’ve believed it for ages.